Typing with Taryn

“The latest drone strike hits an air base 80 miles from the Ukrainian border.”

A drone attack struck near an air base in Russia on Tuesday only a day after Ukraine had used drones to hit two military bases inside the country.

I liked how the authors of this article used quotes for accurate sourcing. The authors used a retired Australian Army officer’s blogging platform for a quote. It said, “It is not, as some are sure to claim, an escalation. But it is a necessary political and military measure for Ukraine to limit the humanitarian harm of Russia’s brutal drone and missile attacks.”

I feel like this is a good quote to use because it has an outsider’s point of view but it’s also someone who has great knowledge in the field and isn’t spreading false information.

I think it would have been nice, if the information is given, to know what people who live near the bombing are doing to protect themselves. Are there any forms of protection? Do they need to evacuate the area? Etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/06/world/russia-ukraine-war-news

Homer, a 16 year old polar bear at Midland Zoo, passed away around 7am this morning. Homer was the oldest bear of the zoo and lived a long life.

Zoo Director, Chris P. Bacon, released a statement to the public regarding Homer’s death. Bacon told the press, “We will do everything in our power to determine how this bear died. Animal welfare and the preservation of species are our primary goals here at the zoo.”

The two polar bears who lived with Homer in the polar bear habitat have been removed from the exhibit to be carefully monitored by the veterinary staff. Midland Zoo would like to reassure the public in knowing that they are doing everything they can to preserve the lives of all animals.

Midland Zoo’s exhibits allow their polar bears to thrive in a unique habitat filled with manufactured snow, gravel, and a chilled pool filled with trout. This fun environment allows the polar bears to live their lives as they would in the original home.

Dr. Shanda Lear, the zoo’s senior staff veterinarian, told the press the necropsy to find out Homer’s cause of death will not be available for several weeks. More information to be released soon.

Picture a nine year old girl, hesitant and a little upset, packing up her belongings to move to a new country with her parents. 

Kirstin Verplanke is a native of Swindon, England and now resides in Arizona. Her unique childhood has allowed her a special perspective on life in America. Throughout her years in Arizona, she has been able to experience things her nine year old self could never imagine.

Schooling in Arizona has much more opportunities compared to Kirstin’s homeland. Kirstin explained how in England, school is considered a full time job. Her school day would be filled with walking to school since driving in England is very uncommon, going to classes from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon, walking home, and immediately starting house chores and school work. 

Even as a nine year old, Kirstin understood the adult feeling of responsibilities. On her days off of school, Kirstin enjoyed spending the typical rainy day in England playing with her friends. The soft sound of rain falling on the window resonated with her while she was inside playing with barbies.

Kirstin had a new definition of “home.” To her, home is people rather than a place. Since she spent much of her childhood traveling from England to Arizona, the one thing that stayed consistent was her relationship with her mother, Helen.

In Kirstin’s eyes, Helen is an understanding, selfless, humble mother who would do anything for her daughter. Their friendship has always come easy and moving to Arizona played a big part in this. Kirstin said, “Moving to Arizona at a young age was difficult since I had to leave all of my friends in England. Being able to rely on my mom as someone who I could go to about anything was really helpful.”

Helen believed this to be true as well. Helen said, “She’s always been my baby girl and I had to look after her. I was just lucky that the move brought us closer together.”

This wholesome mother/daughter friendship continued all throughout high school and is still as prominent now being thousands of miles away from each other as it was living under the same roof.

Sydney Lueth, Kirstin’s roommate and teammate, can proudly attest to this. Sydney and Kirstin have been a part of the Morningside swim team for two years together and have lived together for one year. During this time, Sydney has been able to witness not only Kirstin’s relationship with her mom, but to also see how Kirstin’s culture differs from the “typical” Americans.

When asked about what Sydney initially noticed about Kirstin’s lifestyle, she said, “In the United Kingdom, people don’t really go out to eat a lot so Kirstin typically makes all of her meals here. She doesn’t prefer to go out as much as other people do.”

Sydney continued by saying, “Her mannerisms are also different compared to mine. I feel like she speaks in a much more proper way and is very exact with her wording.”

Little things such as these show Kirstin still has a piece of her original home with her years later. Kirstin is able to make anywhere feel like home with her caring heart and pure soul.

The story I chose is “Ace Hardware Sees 33% Online Sales Increase for Cyber 5 Weekend in 2022”

The first audience members I think of would be stockholders for Ace Hardware. The stockholders would most likely want to see these numbers since they are investing in the company.

The main benefit to the reader would be gaining knowledge about future sales Ace Hardware may be having. With the boom in business from Black Friday, Ace Hardware might be more inclined to have more deals like this.

The company is gaining more exposure by releasing this press conference statement. It shows Ace Hardware has had great success with their products and will continue to do so. It also shows transparency and honesty to stockholders, which might make them want to invest even more into the company.

Most stories I have read for this class don’t usually talk about great success companies have had. They usually are about something plummeting whether it’s in the numbers or otherwise.

ELON MUSK IS FINDING OUT THAT FREE SPEECH ISN’T ROCKET SCIENCE

This article is talking about Elon Musk and his purchase of Twitter for $44 billion. Musk believes that free speech is lost in America, and only tyranny lies ahead.

The article itself had much information. I thought there was too much information, though. Reading the article took me about 8 minutes. For something written about only one topic, it seemed unnecessary to have that much information. It was all well written, but also not needed.

The lead is a quote and is then followed by, “So says Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter, which remains, for now, the go-to place for political obsessives to argue over polarizing topics like gender therapy, school vouchers and Covid-19 policy.”

I think starting with a quote isn’t wrong, but it always seems like there’s better options. If he would’ve found a way to make the sentence following the lead what he started with, that would’ve been much more “attention grabbing” to readers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/us/politics/elon-musk-free-speech.html